The German federal state of Bavaria has struck gold! Bitcoin Gold that is – not to mention Bitcoin Cash, plain old Bitcoin, and Ethereum.
In a landmark sale of seized assets, prosecutors earned the government almost $14 million (€12 million) selling cryptocurrency that had been recovered from a company operating illegally. The loot included 1312 Bitcoins, almost 1400 Bitcoin Cash, 1312 Bitcoin Gold and 220 Ethereum.
The seizure was the result of criminal proceedings against an online audiobook company known as “Lesen und Lauschen” (Read and Listen). The company ran a platform selling e-books illegally for only a few cents per book and featured over 200,000 titles in its inventory. It is believed up to 30,000 people used the site.
Arrests were made last June by Bayern Central Cybercrime Office. The story was reported by German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.
Similar Sales
The sale, while significant, pales in comparison to the $3.3 billion that Bulgaria made last year from Bitcoin seized in an organized crime bust. With the profits, they managed to pay off one-fifth of their national debt. Good thing nobody told them to HODL – that amount would be worth half as much today!
In another similar case in January this year, the U.S government pocketed $40 million in proceeds made from the sale of 2170 Bitcoin recovered by U.S Marshals.
At the time of writing Bitcoin is at $7400 but is almost certainly going to the moon soon, so try not to get busted!
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